Restoring Public Order in Adachi City Community Safety Administration Division Community Safety Bureau Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department
I. Summary
People would like to lead a safe and secure life in a town where they live, and
strongly feel attached to it. Thus, once crime occurs in a familiar place in the town,
they easily get worried about its safety. Some people might start to look for any
vulnerable points to such crime in the town (including in their community).
The purpose of this paper is to present the result of the efforts made not only by
police force but also by the police, administrative organ, and local residents that
worked together for the restoration of once demoralized public order. In the efforts,
the three identified and solved some locally-oriented issues and successfully got
things for the better.
Adachi City is one of the 62 local municipalities and other entities in Tokyo
and used to be ranked the worst crime city. The number of criminal offenses
reported has been over 10,000 for three years since 2006.
To clean up such a tarnished image, the police formed a partnership with the
administrative organ and launched the Strategic Council on Public Order with the
aim of revitalizing the bonds within the city as well as the sense of respect for
social norms which Japanese people have treasured for a long time. The officials and local people identified the regional problems, strengthened the police activities,
and developed community-based participatory approach for the sake of Adachi
City
As a result of the efforts where the local residents participated in such public
order activities, the year 2011 saw the number of criminal offenses reported in
Adachi City dropped to less than 10,000, and the city finally managed to wipe out
such a dishonorable name as the worst–ranked city.
It is observed that through this restoration process, the local residents gradually
became aware of a very simple principle that they needed to protect their own town,
and the outcome brought by their efforts still remain working. (See Appendix 1)
II. Identifying of the issues
1. High percentage of minor offenses that occupy all the criminal offences reported
In the wake of a joint effort made by the public and private sectors, the number
of criminal offenses reported in 2002, the worst one ever recorded in postwar
Japan has gradually dropped. The downward trend was observed in Adachi City
too, but such decrease started to show some indications of slowing down. Then in
2009, the newly-elected mayor of Adachi City reinforced cooperation with local police and tried to find what prevented the trend from going down and to identify
specific problems based on the types of MOs.
(1) Bike thefts (See Appendix 2)
Riding on a bike is one of the most popular, daily means of
transportation in Adachi City. The current train network system runs
north south but less east west in the city. Under such circumstances,
local residents tend to depend on the use of bikes.
The statistics show that in 2001, 3,928 bikes were reported stolen,
occupying 23.3% of 16,843 criminal offences reported in the total.
Though the number of bike thefts was slightly down to 3,633 in 2009,
the total number of criminal offences reported dropped more to 11,115.
As a result, the number of the 2009’s bike thefts was relatively up to
32.6% on the whole.
2. The declining awareness by local residents
(1) Graffiti and littering (See Picture 1)
There were graffiti observed on many walls in the town and utility poles. Graffiti,
once neglected, called for another graffiti widely in the area, resulting in the
production of a vicious cycle. The same went to littering. Litter on the street piled up too. Despite knowing
such an issue, local residents turned a blind eye to it and said, “No matter how
many times we rub the graffiti off or throw litter away. They’ll do it again. So, we
neither clean up nor pick up them.” For this reason, the first thing we decided to
address was how to enhance their awareness of the city’s appearance.
(2) The declining sense of respect for social norms
Lack of manners, such as street smoking, cigarette butt littering and dog
fouling, were also apparent. Factors that demoralized the local residents were also
able to be seen in the declining sense of their respect for social norms. Their
mentality was “It’s just a small thing. As everyone does it, nobody notices it.” It is
considered that if people continue to lose the sense of their respect for social
norms, they may soon overlook minor offenses. This word was right in the case of
Adachi City. There was no progress in reducing the number of even relatively
minor offenses.
III. Analysis
1.Bike thefts
(1) Locking practice of bicyclists (See Appendix 3)
We carried out a survey in Adachi City on locking practice of cyclists who had their bikes stolen.
Appendix 3 shows the results of the 2008 and 2009 surveys.
In order to perceive current circumstances, another survey was conducted
on whether parked bicycles were locked or unlocked and what kind of
locking devices were used.
Of the 8,384 bicycles surveyed, 600 bikes (seven percent) of them were
found “unlocked.” In the areas where the survey was taken, 146 bikes were
reported stolen from January to September in 2010. Seventy six bikes (52
percent) of them remained unlocked.
The result thereby illustrates that good locking practice is highly
significant for preventing bike thefts.
(2) Types of locking devices attached to stolen bicycles
On the other hand, other survey also reveals that a number of locked
bikes were stolen. According to the results of analysis on what kind of
locking devices were used, 3,925 bikes (47 percent) were equipped only with
“ring locks (press type)”, and 472 bikes (six percent) only with “cable locks.”
The majority of these locking devices were found vulnerable to thefts.
(3) Victims Teenagers, especially high school students, topped the number as bike
theft victims. In Japan, parents usually buy their children bikes, and the
children don’t know quite well how much money their parents paid for the
bikes. As a result, the children’s awareness of crime prevention was not so
high.
2. The declining awareness by local residents
(1) The deterioration in the appearance of the town clearly reflects how much
people care about their town. As is proved by this word, we started to
perceive the graffiti on the walls steadily increased. The irregularly-arranged
graffiti created a bad impression of the town on passers-by and made them
feel uncomfortable. (See Pictures 1 and 2)
(2) Litter and cigarette butt littering
The survey conducted in July 2009 revealed that 2,668 pieces (most of
them were cigarette butts and chewing gums) of litter were gathered
around the major four railway stations in the city. Of the 722 street
smokers surveyed, most of them apparently threw away their butts.
Ⅳ. Strategy
1. Tackling of bike thefts (1) Campaign for locking bikes
In order to increase the frequency of locking use, we wrote an article with
detailed advice and good locking practice, and widely publicized it upon
various occasions. Officials also participated in these events and called for
the attention of local citizens to promote a good locking practice upon
parking their bikes.
(2) Bike theft is a crime
Theft of a bike is larceny and is a criminal offense which is punishable by
jail time or fine under the Japan’s Penal Code of Offenses. Therefore, it
was imperative that we address to people in Adachi City asking them to
understand the theft is not a petty crime. This approach intended to prevent
people from stealing bicycles on a whim.
We then exhibited “Bike theft is a crime” posters, aiming to raise
awareness of social norms among the local residents.
(3) Switch to quality bike locks
Many bikes were found to be equipped with cheap, shoddy bike locks
that might become easy targets for offenders. We recommended to local
people that they should replace them with quality locks. Consequently, 3,427 bike locks were successfully switched by 2012.
(4) Student-oriented action plan for the prevention of bike thefts
Given that most of the victims were high school students, we came up
with an idea of a student-oriented action plan to raise their awareness in
crime prevention. We thought that our message on crime prevention, if
disseminated among the same school students, would effectively make
sense to them. Based on this idea, we formed a dedicated working group
named the “Putting the Brakes on Bike Theft Team” that consisted mainly
of high school students. They proactively worked for promoting some tips
on bike theft prevention, and replaced cheap, shoddy bike locks at several
high schools in Adachi City.
2. Working on the improvement in awareness of social norms
(1) Trading litter for flower seeds
A coordinated measure was taken to raise awareness of social norms
within the community: cleaning up litter and rubbish that pollute the city;
trading litter for flower seeds; and growing beautiful flowers all around the
town. This is not only making the place “litter-free” but adding something
extra for a better appearance of the city. Although it may not seem connected to the recovery of such demoralized public order, we encouraged
people to hold back on throwing litter and rubbish on the street for the sake
of the flower beauty, and thus improve and maintain the environment.
(2) Improving the public manners
Greetings are extremely important to build good neighbor-to-neighbor
relationships. Local residents in the city were encouraged to shape a new
culture in the community to actively greet each other.
V. Assessment
1. The declining number of criminal offenses reported (Appendixes 1 and 3)
By conducting comprehensive measures for the improvement of public
order in Adachi City, the number of criminal offenses reported in 2012 dropped
by about 1,945 to 9,141 in comparison with that in 2009, the year we have
executed this strategy. The number of criminal offenses reported fell below
10,000 for the first time in 34 years since 1973, and there was a substantial
decrease especially in the following fields.
Burglaries from 371 to 189.
Cycle thefts from 3,634 to 2,828
Motor cycle thefts from 586 to 344 Vehicle load thefts from 702 to 507
The decrease in these crimes has largely contributed to the drop in the total
number of criminal offenses reported on the whole, and therefore improved the
confidence of Adachi City as a safe and secure place to live in.
2. Improvement in people’s perceptions of demoralized public order
The survey of public order in Adachi City illustrates the improvement in
people’s confidence in response to public order of the city. As opposed to
26.9% of respondents who answered “I feel safe in Adachi City” in 2010,
41.0% in 2012. The aforementioned result suggests that many local residents
gained a sense of accomplishment through the work of anti-crime volunteering
and litter clean-ups, thus correctly recognizing the trends in crime within their
community.
Based on the government’s anti-crime measures called the “Action Plan to
Create a Crime-Resistant Society 2008,” it appears that we played a vital role
in order to restore the public order before any other municipalities and entities;
here it states:
“In order to realize a safe and secure society to live in, it is necessary to not only lower the number of cases of crime as a whole, but also to make a society in which people can trust each other. In the local community, these are good opportunities to consider each other’s actions. Through that, the bond of the local community will be strengthened, and the trust between its members can be further developed. As such, we believe that by striving for development of mutual trust through comprehensive implementation of various kinds of enforcement policies, the safety and security of the society will greatly improve.”
The improvement of once demoralized public order in Adachi City is not the result by the police efforts but by the combined efforts by the police, the administrative organ and regional community groups, or local residents. They all worked together by striving for development of mutual trust. We believe that our concerted efforts significantly contributed to the advancement of the safety and security of Adachi City.
Information on agency and officers:
・ Key Project Team Members:
Community Safety Administration Division
Community Safety Bureau, TMPD
Superintendent Akinori NAKAJIMA
Chief Inspector Yoshitaka HAYASHIZAKI
Inspector Hideaki SATO
・ Project Contact Person:
Director of Community Safety Administration Division
Community Safety Bureau, TMPD
Assistant Commissioner Hirotaka YAMAGUCHI
2-1-1 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda City, Tokyo
100-8829
+81-3-3581-4321
Appendix
(Appendix 1) Number of Criminal Offences Reported in Tokyo, 2005-2012
1 2 3 4 5
Setagaya City Adachi City Edogawa City Nerima City Shinjuku City 2005 14,674 13,576 13,436 11,263 11,252
Adachi City Setagaya City Edogawa City Shinjuku City Nerima City 2006 13,382 13,284 12,479 11,487 11,444
Adachi City Setagaya City Shinjuku City Edogawa City Nerima City 2007 12,721 11,845 11,153 10,904 10,723
Adachi City Shinjuku City Setagaya City Edogawa City Nerima City 2008 11,390 10,834 10,628 10,308 9,690
Adachi City Shinjuku City Edogawa City Setagaya City Ota City 2009 11,086 10,968 10,218 10,174 9,185
Shinjuku City Adachi City Edogawa City Setagaya City Ota City 2010 10,537 10,355 9,685 9,590 9,085
Adachi City Edogawa City Shinjuku City Setagaya City Nerima City 2011 10,363 9,666 9,521 9,341 8,128
Shinjuku City Adachi City Edogawa City Setagaya City Ota City 2012 9,377 9,141 8,675 8,569 7,602
The percentage of Bike Theft of the Total Reported Criminal Offenses (Appendix 2)
(Number) 4000 35.0%
3500 30.0% 3000 25.0% 2500 20.0% Number of 2000 Bike Theft 15.0% 1500 Percentage 10.0% of Bike 1000 Theft
500 5.0%
0 0.0% 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Number of Stolen Bicycle and their Locking Practices
(Appendix 3)
Number of Bicycle Stolen in 2008
Locked 1669 1743 Unlocked
In total, 3,412 bicycles were reported stolen in 2008.
Number of Bicycle Stolen in 2009
Locked 1938 1965 Unlocked
In total, 3,633 bicycles were reported stolen in 2009.
(Appendix 4)
Number of Bicycle Stolen in 2012
1144 Locked 1686 Unlocked
In total, 2,830 bicycles were reported stolen in 2012.
Graffiti on the wall in the park (Picture 1)
Rubbed out the graffiti (Picture 2)
Planting beautiful flowers in the town (Picture 3)